Page 133 of Promise of Darkness
Tension quivers through him. His tongue is firm and demanding, and I moan a little as his weight presses me into the mattress.
Breaking the kiss, he rests his forehead against my shoulder. “You ruin me, Vi. I should go. Before I break my word.”
He rolls toward the edge of the bed.
“Thiago….” I catch at his fingers.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he glances over his shoulder at me. “Yes?”
Somehow, I find the courage to put my wishes into words. I would rather face a dozen howling goblins, than admit to my feelings, but…. “You should stay.”
He glances down at our linked fingers. “In what capacity?”
“Guard my dreams,” I whisper, though it’s more than that.
I want to fall asleep in his arms, feeling his breath stir against my neck and his heartbeat kick against my back. I want what I’ve only experienced in those soft moments between sleep and waking—a single stolen moment of surrender, before the dream vanishes, leaving only the ghostly sensation of his touch in my bed.
Thiago turns, sliding back beneath the sheets and opening his arms to me. “As you wish,” he whispers.
And I don’t think about it.
I just curl into those strong arms and try to imagine a future where I could spend every night like this. No longer alone. No longer guarded. Safe. And loved.
Three weeks remain. And now I have incentive to break this fucking curse, no matter what I must do.
Tick tock.
* * *
Morning dawns,bringing with it a soft golden light that paints ripples across Thiago’s chest. Waking in his arms might be my new favorite thing, though I’ll never admit it. Lifting my head slightly, I examine his restful face, those eyelashes dark against his olive skin. My fingers stir, tempted to brush against his chiseled lips.
They’re so perfect, though perhaps my judgement has something to do with his kisses.
If I didn’t know better, I’d almost think I was besotted.
“You snore,” he says suddenly, and I jerk my fingers back with a squeak, as those lashes flutter open. “I’d almost forgotten.”
“I donot.”
“Like a troll.”
Stabbing him in the ribs with a finger, I scowl at his sexy smile. Every inch of him is sleepy and rumpled. I like him best like this, I think.
He captures my fingers and bites them lightly, his gaze falling to my throat.
“Nope, nope, nope!” I push at him as he leans closer with a heated look in his eyes. “Don’t you dare. I haven’t brushed my teeth yet. And it’s morning.”
I throw the blankets off, but he throws them back over me and pins them there.
“So it is.”
“Morning,” I rasp. “Which means one less day to break this curse.”
Thiago stills, the muscle in his biceps flexing as he hovers over me. “I thought we’d discussed this.”
“The discussion wasn’t finished. You told me there’s nothing in Seelie that can break the curse. That leaves the north.” I push myself upright. “Tell me everything we’ve tried in the past.”
And so he does.
